Reply by UncannyValleyWoods

I built a head board not long ago… Mine was quite different, but I sort of had the same problem.

My solution was think in terms of panels. I used the top and bottom of the frame as mortise and tenons and then placed the rest of the material in the middle.

This is what it looked like before I joined it all. The blue parts are taped up panels that are framed together. The only parts that join are the top and bottom rails.

You could easily do this to yours. You basically glue up the middle pieces to the top and bottom rail, but make your rails long enough to cut tenons. You can cut the tenons flush if you don’t want them protruding. This will solve a lot of the risk of movement…

-- “If Jesus had been killed twenty years ago, Catholic school children would be wearing little electric chairs around their necks instead of crosses.” ― Lenny Bruce